Not five minutes after the Cincinnati Reds revealed that Joey Votto had tested positive for COVID-19, the Texas Rangers revealed that – consistent with their state’s apparent determination that the pandemic was basically over – they will be open for 100% capacity on Opening Day.
No capacity limitations whatsoever:
– masks will be required
– no tailgating allowed
– team is asking for “voluntary compliance” but refusal to comply will fall under the usual three-strike rule, just like excessive profanity, etc.More to come.
— Levi Weaver (@ThreeTwoEephus) March 10, 2021
Occupancy at stadium is 40,518. There will some social-distance sections for fans who want that, but not on opening day.
Club officials stress over and over that voluntary compliance with mask requirement is essential to this plan working responsibly. https://t.co/Ti4s9tVjv3
— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) March 10, 2021
“Voluntary compliance” is a heck of a phrase, no?
I’m not going to make any jokes here, because this is too serious. I want to say that it’s important to note that just because Texas has lifted all pandemic restrictions, that doesn’t mean the Rangers or MLB had to permit full attendance. This is a choice they are making.
Is it a fine choice or a very bad choice?
Well, from where I sit, it certainly seems fraught with the kind of risk that could not only imperil health and lives, but also imperil the public’s perception of what activities are “safe” to do. All it would take is one outbreak attributed to the crowd to really eff things up for other teams and stadiums, right? Their future plans for attendance throughout the season? The mental state of people who just want to go do a fun thing and trust that it’s safe? Again, this is to say nothing of the potential human health cost.
To be sure, we might find out a month from now that the state of the pandemic and vaccine rollout is such that this is actually a fine decision. I’m at least open to that possibility. But how you could project that now, is kinda beyond me. The Cubs and the City of Chicago landed on 20% capacity for Opening Day, for what it’s worth, with the hope of expanding from there. That seems a much safer and more reasonable approach.
Living life involves risks, whether there’s a pandemic or not. Unconsciously, we balance the risk of X every time we want to go do fun thing Y. Our brains are probably a little broken in that regard after all this stuff the past year. But still, this just feels like too much risk too quickly.